Numbers
by sirafaraikavid
Summary: With the help of two adults, three teenagers, and two of their friends, the four former experiments fought against a scientific experiment conspiracy conducted at the Hawkins National Laboratory.
1. important notes

Hi! This is my first fanfiction books, so I hope you don't mind.

I found rarities in this kind of story, so why not if I try to write this?

This book will have the fair bit of graphic depictions of violence, sexuality, strong language, and/or other mature themes _**(**_ ** _yeah, I stole it from Wattpad's Community Guidelines)_** , so if any of you triggered by that, I recommend you to not read this. But if you want to, read at your own risk.

I really appreciated if you can support this kind of story.

So, comment at constructive criticism and follow/favorite this book!

Hope you enjoy this!

* * *

P.S.: This story will be cross-published at **Wattpad** , this platform, and **AO3**.

Here's the link:  
 **Wattpad:** wattpad dot com slash story/169994164-numbers  
 **AO3** : archiveofourown dot org slash works/17600744


	2. file master, m: subject 004

real name | **MAXINE MAYFIELD**

number classification | **004**

age | **13**

abilities | **electrokinesis and telepathy**

status | **UNKNOWN [alive possible]**

 **···**

 **EXPLANATIONS**

 **Electrokinesis:  
** The ability to **manipulate electricity**. User can create, shape and manipulate electricity, a form of energy resulting from the movement of charged particles (such as electrons or protons), allowing control over electric fields, all charge carriers (Ions, Electrons, Protons, and Positrons), electronics, and electromagnetic forces.

 **Telepathy** :  
The power to **mentally receive and/or transmit information**. User can read/sense another person's thoughts, communicate with them mentally and/or affect their minds/thoughts.


	3. file master, b: subject 005

real name | **WILLIAM BYERS**

number classification | **005**

age | **13**

abilities | **mnemokinesis and telepathy**

status | **UNKNOWN [alive possible]**

 **···**

 **EXPLANATIONS**

 **Mnemokinesis:  
** The power to **control memories**. User can control memories of oneself and others, allowing them to modify, fabricate, suppress, influence, repair, restore, erase, detect, and view them. They can change memories to confuse, wipe away certain memories to cause amnesia, discern and provoke nostalgia, and enter the victim into a psychic vision, replaying their memory.

 **Telepathy** :  
The power to **mentally receive and/or transmit information**. User can read/sense another person's thoughts, communicate with them mentally and/or affect their minds/thoughts.


	4. file master, w: subject 010

real name | **MICHAEL WHEELER**

number classification | **010**

age | **13**

abilities | **pyrokinesis and telepathy**

status | **ALIVE**

 **···**

 **EXPLANATIONS**

 **Pyrokinesis:  
** The power to **manipulate heat and fire**. User can create, shape and manipulate fire, the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products, flame being the visible portion of the fire. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity will be different.

 **Telepathy** :  
The power to **mentally receive and/or transmit information**. User can read/sense another person's thoughts, communicate with them mentally and/or affect their minds/thoughts.


	5. file master, i: subject 011

real name | **JANE IVES**

number classification | **011**

age | **13**

abilities | **telekinesis and telepathy**

status | **ALIVE**

 **···**

 **EXPLANATIONS**

 **Telekinesis:  
** The power to **manipulate objects and matter with their mind**. User can influence/manipulate/move objects/matter with their mind. Telekinesis is one of the basis of many superpowers that are based on "controlling/manipulating", and may evolve to the point that a Telekinetic can control anything at a subatomic, particle and universal level.

 **Telepathy** :  
The power to **mentally receive and/or transmit information**. User can read/sense another person's thoughts, communicate with them mentally and/or affect their minds/thoughts.


	6. prologue

Hawkins National Laboratory.

A national federal laboratory located in a remote suburb of the city of Hawkins, Indiana. The laboratory is run by the Department of Energy and controlled by the CIA.

The CIA created a covert operation, namely a science experiment project called **_Project MKUltra_**. Hawkins Lab is one of the labs that undertake the project. The goal was to develop mind-control techniques that could be used against enemies during the Cold War.

And everything went crazy after the creation of operation.

You see, all the laboratories that undertake the project began to look for test subjects on the experiment by kidnapping many newborn baby and having strong potential to be used as government weapons.

In this lab, there are about twelve test subjects tested. Seven of them were killed because they were used too often by the lab, the other one disappeared and the status was still unknown and the remaining four were still in the lab.

The four of them were the favorite experiments of Hawkins Lab's Director of Operations, Dr. Martin Brenner. He named each of them; Four, Five, Ten, and Eleven. These four weren't normal kids. They had abilities, abilities that the other kids their age don't have. Four has electrokinesis, Five has mnemokinesis, Ten has pyrokinesis, and Eleven has telekinesis. They also shared the same abilities, telepathy.

A little story about Four and Five. They were the test subjects transferred from the Indianapolis National Laboratory which also undertake the project. They were transferred at the age of two.

Throughout their lives in the lab, Brenner treated them not like human being, but like cold weapons for the government. They were forced to follow all kinds of lab experiments. Making electrical contacts, entering people's emotions, burning stuffed mannequins and destroying Coke cans, all with their minds.

They will also be put into the Sensory Deprivation Tank for their telepathic powers, deal with The Void, and eavesdrop on what important Russian people say, so that the government people can predict what Russia is planning.

If you ask me, if their suffering stops there?

No. Their suffering is worse than you might expect.

They'll be beaten if they don't behave and cooperate as Brenner said. Even worse, they'll be dragged into the Dark Room as their severe punishment if they don't do as they were told.

When the four of them were five, the subject tests were sick with everything Brenner has done towards them. So, they planned their escape and decided to execute the plan.

At 8 o'clock.

Tonight.

In October 28, 1976.

A quiet evening.

The security in the lab is average.

Shift guards have just exchanged their sessions.

And the test subject's escape plan will be executed.

Tonight.

Little did they know, their plans would be screwed.

Totally screwed.

The **Experimental Ward** room was quiet and calm, only ringing the various buzzing long white fluorescent lights that were on the ceiling of the hallway. A guard on duty is seen on the left side of the entrance. Carrying the Glock G17 that was pinned to his belt, he was seen asleep.

Suddenly, the metal door that reads **Subject 011** opens in a slight squeak. There was a little girl seen in the room. She was wearing a hospital gown, her head shaved, barefoot and her nose was bleeding.

She peered carefully, making sure not to wake the guard. When she felt safe, the girl slowly walked out, tiptoeing. She stopped in the next room. **Subject 010**. The girl focused on the room's door and made a soft, unlocked sound. And the door opened slowly.

"Safe," the girl said. And the person who is in there comes out. He looks the same as the girl, minus the bloody nose and he's a little boy.

The boy nodded, and they stepped, slowly and tiptoeing, to the door that read **Subject 004** and **Subject 005**. The little girl stood between the door and tried to focus herself to open the metal doors. Meanwhile, the little boy is watching over the situation, and ensures that the guard on duty is not awake.

Finally, the door opened, and in each room, appeared a little girl and little boy who looked the same as them. "Safe," she repeated the words. She wiped her nose. The two of them nodded, understand, and they both joined them.

Five stood in front of the sleeping guard and tried to confuse the guard with a dream that felt real, namely when he got an award from the government. He'll experience the dream for an hour, enough time for the test subject to escape.

Slowly but surely, Eleven took the key that hung on the guard's wrist. She tried various types of keys until she found the right key and unlocked the door.

The door squeaked open, and the four of them began to run, toward the main door of the lab. Fortunately, the door was unlocked, and the four of them kept running when they heard the warning siren howling loudly.

They've been caught, and they must get out of there as soon as possible.

Convincing themselves that they would manage to escape from the lab, they ran towards the closed gate. Quickly, Four and Ten combine their ability to damage the gate. Four made the electric gate burn, and Ten melted the burning gate, large enough for them to pass. When they do that, Eleven looked back. Vaguely, she saw Brenner with four white-clothed men running toward them. That panicked her.

"Hurry!" she shouted. Realizing that, Four and Ten tried harder to sped up the destruction. When finally the gate was broken, without wasting time, they speeding up their run, headed for the woods. Behind them, there were two people screaming from the top of their lungs and that's when they realized something.

Ten and Eleven had been caught, their arms tightly locked by the arms of the four white-clothed men, two arms each, and Brenner had started running to chase the remaining two. "GO!" Ten shouted loudly. Four and Five still ran until his scream and body disappeared from them, replaced by the bushes. Behind them, Brenner is still chasing them, and his footstep was heard.

"FOUR! FIVE! YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!" Brenner yelled at them. That makes them run faster. When they felt Brenner didn't see them and they didn't hear his footsteps, they looked for a place to hide until they found a log nearby. They ran and hid there. They hugged each other, praying silently that Brenner didn't find them.

During their hiding, Four and Five feel sad because their best friend was caught by Brenner's people and taken back to the lab. Who knows if they will be severely punished by him. They were in the same position for two hours, and rain started pouring down when finally Brenner gave up and returned to the lab, bringing their captured friends.

When they peered around and felt safe, they immediately ran, away from the woods, without direction, and found themselves stranded and sheltering in the grocery store. They silently cried while waited for the rain to subside when a woman in her mid-30s and a child around the age of nine, older than the escapee, both brown-haired, came out of the shop and saw them beside the left of the shop, leaning against the brick wall, shivering from the cold, hugging themselves, and the fact that they only wore hospital gowns.

Suddenly, the woman found a feeling that was familiar to them, especially the boy. She was shocked. However, as a polite woman, she needs to control herself and try to give them help. She and her child began to approach them.

"Are you lost?" The woman asked, still with shocked-but-with-more-controlled face. They looked to the woman with the tears they wiped and nodded. "Do you know where your parents are?" her son asked, looking worried. They shook their heads.

"Bad," Four answered, almost like a whisper. "Not safe," Five continued, whispering.

The woman was even more shocked by what she had just heard from them. She tried to put her hand on his shoulder to comfort, but he flinched at that gesture.

"Don't worry. We will not hurt you. You'll be safe with us," she reassured the scared kid. "Yeah. My mom and I will never hurt you two," her child reassured them. Four and Five looked at each other and faced the woman and child again. This time, they nodded in agreement.

"My name is Joyce Byers, but you can call me Mrs. Byers," the woman introduced herself as she signaled her son to come beside her. "This is my oldest son, Jonathan," the woman said and they nodded again. Jonathan waved his hand while smiled. They mimicked the gesture later. Shortly thereafter, the rain had stopped completely. However, the air is still cold.

"Jonathan, can you wait with them while I take the car?" Joyce asked. "Of course, Mom," Jonathan replied. With that, Joyce ran with an closed umbrella to get the car while Jonathan waited with them at the same spot.

"I guess you haven't introduced yourself. What are your names?" Jonathan asked, a little shyly.

They looked at each other before answering. "Four," "Five," they answered in unison.

Jonathan frowned, a little surprised that their names were numbers. "What? Your name's Four and Five?" They nodded.

Quickly, the 1976 Ford Pinto approached them, a tire screeching sound was heard as Joyce let out a small scream with a smile. "C'mon, let's go!" They don't waste anymore time and this was the situation in the car right now. Joyce was in the front seat of the driver, Jonathan in the front seat of the passenger, and Four and Five sat in the back seat of the passenger.

They followed Joyce and Jonathan with an implied message.

They will lead them to their new life. Their better new life.

A lot of things happened since the day the Byers and Four and Five unpredictable encounter. After they decided to share everything they had experienced, with their limited vocabulary at the time, Joyce immediately searched their origins and discovered that Five was her biological child who was "pronounced dead" for five years. And Four came from the Mayfield-Hargrove family who by chance, lived in Hawkins after moving from California. They told Susan Hargrove, her biological mother, that her daughter was still alive. Of course, she was happy and thanked Joyce for bringing her child home. And at that very moment, they immediately legalized it with the help of Hawkins Police Chief, Jim Hopper.

Days by days, months by months, years by years, they were changed. With their new names and identities. And their new appearances.

 _Subject Four_ was gone, now's Maxine Mayfield. Or Max. Long redhead and blue eyes.

 _Subject Five_ was gone, now's William Byers. Or Will. Bowl-cut brown hair and brown eyes.

They were taught a lot of vocabulary; simple and complex; and basic education lessons before enrolling at Hawkins Middle School. They got some new friends there.

Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair. Two ordinary teenagers who were very fond of 'Dungeons and Dragons' and for some reason, invited them to play. Of course they accepted the offer. And they define themselves as a their definite character class.

Dustin as a Bard, Lucas as a Ranger, Will as a Cleric, and Max as a Rogue (though in fact, she prefers to call her class as a Zoomer, for some reason).

With the help of their science teacher, Mr. Scott Clarke, Will and Max joined Hawkins Middle AV Club, an audio visual club that also consists of Dustin and Lucas. The four of them, plus Mr. Clarke, often participated in the Hawkins Regional Science Fair and always took first place, twice in a row.

With that too, as The Party, they often hang out in each of their homes, AV club rooms, and Palace Arcade. Max, especially very excited when invited to the arcade for a Dig-Dug's high-scoring contest with Dustin.

Max has a strange relationship with a skateboard, and with her tomboyish appearance, she always uses it all the time, even in her school corridors.

Will grew to become a drawing artist who was greatly admired in his school. The picture is always displayed on the school's wall. And more pictures and sketches were on his sketch book. Sometimes he drew portraits of his friends, himself, his new group of friends on one page, and a squad with pictures of himself, Max and their former friends in the lab, with shaved heads, hospital gowns, and their numbers written below each of the figure.

That last one sounded pathetic.

Oh, did I mention them that they were changed? Mostly.

There are still some things that have not changed and still haunt them both.

A permanent three-digit number tattoo on their left wrist is a curse and nightmare for them. A curse, because they will be known as the test subject escapee and possibly tracked by the government. A nightmare, because they had to lose two of their friends who were captured and brought back to the lab. That's why they always use long-sleeved clothes to cover up their tattoos. Their former identity as a test subject experiment.

Their ability is one of their barriers to being able to live as normal as possible. Hopper had instructed Will and Max so they wouldn't use and say something about their abilities, except for the urgency. They knew they wouldn't be able to live normally because of what happened in 1976, but at least they tried to.

So far, those who knows about their dirty little secrets are only the Byers, the Mayfield-Hargrove, and Hopper himself. They haven't told Dustin and Lucas, even though one of The Party's rules is; _Friends Don't Lie_. They're afraid of the dangers that threaten them all if they tell them at the wrong moment. At least, they would tell them someday, but not now.

On that note, they will not forget Ten and Eleven throughout their lives.

So, without Dustin and Lucas's knowledge, Will and Max arrange their heist plan to break into the lab and get them back.

And the plan will be executed on November 7, 1983, at 8 pm.

But little did they know, in the early hours of the same day, Ten and Eleven finally managed to escape from the lab, because, the night before, Eleven accidentally opened an inter-dimensional portal, namely The Gate. Portal that connects between the real world and alternative dimensions, known as Upside Down.

And this is where the story will begin.

Author's Note: Unusual long prologue, huh? Oh, well... What's done is done.


End file.
